Heretofore, there has been proposed an automatic focusing system wherein a change in state of a reflected light is detected as a change in an electrical signal and an objective lens driving unit is controlled on the basis of such electrical signal.
However, it is necessary to prevent an objective lens system from being accelerated and striking against a recording medium at the time of an initial operation of an automatic focusing apparatus, and in this regard there has been known a method wherein the entire objective lens system is moved up to a focal position between an objective lens and the recording medium by using a precise screw feed mechanism or the like and thereafter the automatic focusing apparatus is switched ON, or a method wherein when the distance between an objective lens and a recording medium decreases, an objective lens system is braked at a suitable timing, as shown in Japanese Patent Publication No. 1683/1979.